anniemac
Well-known member
This question has been bothering me lately. Ella's neurologist is not a researcher or anyone well known, but he did speak a year ago to some people in Charlotte about CM/SM. He used a lot of Dr. Rusbridge's information but he said something that hit me more than numbers. He said (which is a number debated) it could be said around 50% of Cavaliers have SM. He looked around and said half of those here because many do not show symptoms which is why breeding.... I don't want to get into all that.
He said that the majority of the time he sees SM is from an MRI on a completely unrelated issue. The dog may not have symptoms but the MRI shows they have SM. When I interviewed Dr. Marino, I asked the question on what would you say to someone who has a dog that does not have symptoms but is diagnosed with SM. Of course he went into the surgery side. icon_whistlingbut I thought he would say something to not worry people. In breeding its one thing but as a pet owner, why would you want to know or have an MRI IF it was not for research and there were no symptoms?
He said that the majority of the time he sees SM is from an MRI on a completely unrelated issue. The dog may not have symptoms but the MRI shows they have SM. When I interviewed Dr. Marino, I asked the question on what would you say to someone who has a dog that does not have symptoms but is diagnosed with SM. Of course he went into the surgery side. icon_whistlingbut I thought he would say something to not worry people. In breeding its one thing but as a pet owner, why would you want to know or have an MRI IF it was not for research and there were no symptoms?
- A couple people mentioned having an MRI done and I wondered about it.
- I feel surgery based on an MRI is way aggressive and even wonder about medication for asymptomatic cavaliers (long term effects etc)